GSK Acquires Exclusive Rights to J&J's Hepatitis B Drug in $1 Billion Deal

GSK plc, a pharmaceutical industry company, has entered into an agreement that will give it exclusive rights to Johnson & Johnson’s hepatitis B therapy, known as JNJ-3989. To secure this license, the firm is paying $1 billion to J&J.

The exclusive license will give GSK the rights to further develop and commercialize J&J’s hepatitis B drug. The therapy, which is currently in development, was initially developed by Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals and licensed to J&J’s Janssen unit in 2018, as per Reuters.

Expansion of GSK’s bepirovirsen Treatment

GSK’s rights to the JNJ-3989 therapy will give a boost to the expansion of its own hepatitis B treatment called the bepirovirsen, which is already in the last phase of development. The disease reportedly affects around 300 million people worldwide. It is a life-threatening infection of the liver, and patients can develop cirrhosis and liver cancer that can lead to death.

With the agreement with Johnson & Johnson for its JNJ-3989 treatment, GSK will be able to expand and complete the development of bepirovirsen. Under the terms of the deal, the British pharma and biotech company will pay a total of $1 billion in either upfront or milestone payment arrangements to both Arrowhead and Janssen.

Arrowhead Gains New Partner for the Hepatitis B Therapy

Since Johnson &Johnson sold the rights to JNJ-3989 to GSK, the latter will eventually become the new partner of the therapy’s original developer, Arrowhead. Then again, Janssen will continue to handle the ongoing clinical trials of JNJ-3989, which is now in phase 2 testing.

“We are excited to build on promising results already demonstrated with bepirovirsen to investigate a novel sequential regimen with JNJ-3989,” GSK’s chief scientific officer, Tony Wood, said in a press release. “We believe this approach could redefine the treatment paradigm for chronic hepatitis B by helping even more patients achieve a functional cure.”

Arrowhead’s president and CEO, Chris Anzalone, Ph.D., also commented, “GSK has a global reach, a clear commitment to help those living with chronic hepatitis B, and a promising strategy for clinical studies designed to improve functional cure rates. We have great confidence in the team at GSK and look forward to seeing this program progress towards the goal of potentially helping the millions of patients with chronic hepatitis B worldwide without adequate treatment options.”

Photo by: GSK Media Library